Religious Institutions, Universities and Other Nonprofits Aim to Use Air Rights

Grace Church—a historic building in Greenwich Village made of marble and distinguished by intricate stained-glass windows—has an annual budget of $2.6 million.

But it recently spent more than $3 million on a new organ. Another $1 million went to replace a stained-glass window with 10,000 pieces of glass, and there are 50 more windows that it must replace—each at a cost of at least $100,000. And the 170-year-old building is plagued by...